Monthly Archives: January 2014

The Renault Open Water Series kicked off yesterday starting from Newcastle and finishing at Blacksmiths – Swansea Belmont Surf Life Saving Club. There was some real hot competition at the top. Winner was Cory Hill (Thanks Cory for coming down from Queensland) Second was local boy Greg Tobin and third was Northern Beaches star Mark Anderson. You can see the full results under the results tab.

The paddlers at the presentation were happy to see their correct results on their phones. Thanks to Alan Phillips for continuing with the Etimeteam system and also to the timekeeping team on the day lead by Gillian Garde and including Steve Newsome and Tom and Christine Simmat. Great job! There were 63 boats starting and about 100 paddlers including 5 Outrigger 6s and 4 Stand-up Paddlers. Dean Little from Ocean Playground is the race director and he gave the briefing on the Nobby’s Beach at Newcastle. There was a deepwater start and we were off. Lovely bluewater conditions with a 15 to 20 knot wind behind us, swell also sort of behind us about 1m high, just enough to keep us catching the runners all the way. Over the 23 km distance it got a bit lonely towards the back of the pack but the conditions were so beautiful you couldn’t get too upset. There were plenty of rescue people humming around including the lifesavers (Thanks) and also NSW Maritime (Thanks also)

This race is first in the 2014 Renault Open Water Series run by PaddleNSW. The second is the Makai Cup on the 8th February down at Ulladulla. That race was the best of the year in 2013. The third is Cronulla Bay runner on the 26th March. There is a pointscore running for these events. Folks, try to get to all three of them. It’ll be worth it. Best wishes Tim Hookinsfor the PaddleNSW Open Water Technical Committee